Separable fastener



Jan. 19, 1965 A. MARosY 3,165,804

SEPARABLE FASTENER Filed NOV. 2, 1962 FIG. 3 /10 xbcixgxmg;

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INVENTOR ANDRE MAROSY maa AGENTZZ United States Patent O 3,165,864 tSEPARABLE FASTENER Andre Marosy, 24731 Kipling St., Uak Park, Mich.

Filed Nov. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 235,159

4 Claims. (Cl. 24-230) This invention relates generally to snaps andmore particularly to a novel jewelry snap having a positive safety lock.A

Jewelry snaps play an important role in the jewelry industry, since manyvarieties of jewelry require some type of fastener. Necklaces,bracelets, wrist watches, etc. which cannot be slipped on must, ofnecessity, have some type of fastening means for joining two endsthere.-

. of around the part of the body on which they are worn.

The importance ofl the snap, however, is of primary interest to thepurchaser or wearer of the jewelry. There are two important factorswhich the consumer may consider when purchasing jewelry: First, the easeof operation of the snap and second, the security it can offer in itsability to hold together and not come unfastened while the jewelry isbeing worn.

The diiculty of putting on or taking off a wristwatch or necklace whichrequires the operation of prior known jewelry snaps is well known.Fumbling to find the proper notch or to operate a particular springloaded element has become a familiar sight in the home. Oftentimes, theoperation of putting on jewelry must be performed by a second person,thus becoming a troublesome job.

Of utmost importance, however, is the safety and security provided bythe jewelry snap. In this respect, the value of the piece of jewelrydepends largely upon the safety provided yand upon the amount f positiveaction offered thereby. Many times the operation of such devices isloose to the extent that the jewelry is easily unfastened and thereby isoften lost or broken. Thus it is evident that the selection of jewelrymay oftentimes be dependent upon the particular snap which is employed.

Positive action and ease of operation, however, is not always suliicientfor the needs of the jewelry wearer. A fastening lock is necessary toguarantee the complete safety of the jewelry from being lost or droppedand broken. Such safety locks on jewelry clasps have, heretofore, beeninadequate in many respects. For instance, the addition of some type oflock means to an ordinary jewelry snap would result in a large and bulkyfastener. Of course, the size of the snap should be held to an absoluteminimum so that it will not distract from the appearance of the jewelry.In addition, prior safety locks which provided complete locking actionwere difficult to operate.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a jewelry snapwhich will be easy to operate and handle.

It is another object of this invention to provide a jewelry snap whichwill have positive locking means.

Another object of this invention is to provide a jewelry snap which willbe inexpensive to construct and manufacture.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a jewelry snap ofrugged construction which will not be easily bent or broken.

And another object of this invention is to provide a jewelry snap whichmay be compact and relatively small in size in comparison to thefunctions provided thereby.

These and other objects of the present invention will be more fullyrealized and understood from the following detailed description whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the invention showing its lines. jewelry by rings12 and 14 located at each end of the 3,165,804 l Y Patented Jan. 19,1965 ice relationship to a piece of jewelry and the manner in which itfastens the two ends thereof together;

FIGURE 2 is a side View of the invention showing it in a fastenedcondition;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of the invention as shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side view and partial cross section of the inventionshowing it in an unfastened condition;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed cross sectional side view of a portion of one endof the invention showing the operation of a safety lock and plungermechanism in a locked condition; and

FIGURE 6 is a side view and partial cross vsection of one end of theinvention showing the operation of the safety lock in an unlockedcondition.

In reference to the drawings, like numerals throughout the various Viewsand figures will designate similar parts and elements.

Referring to FIGURE l, there is shown therein the invention as it isutilized with a necklace shown in dotted The jewelry snap 10 isconnected to the piece of snap. It is to be understood that the noveldevice of this invention can be used with any similar type of ar ticleand is not limited to use with jewelry specifically. As shown in FIGURES2 and 3 the snap is madein two engaging bodies 16 and 18 to which rings12 and 14 are connected respectively in any suitable manner ofconstruction. A plunger 20 extends from the top of body 16 and isoperated to release the engaging action between the two bodies.

The disengaged snap is shown in FIGURE 4 wherein body 18 is shown inpartial cross section. A U-shaped spring 22 is secured to the bottompart of body 16 at a point 24 thereon. The plunger 20 has a threadedshank screwed into the upper arm of spring 22 and extends through but isnot in engagement with body 16. A tooth 26 is secured to the upper armof spring 22 and is located thereon so as to engage with a hole 28 inbody 18. Several holes may be provided in the several respective sidesof body 18 so that no matter how the bodies are turned with respect toeach other, the tooth will engage the hole in one of the sides. Inoperation, spring 22 is inserted into body 18 until tooth 26 engages oneof the holes 28. Tooth 26 has a cam surface which tends to depressspring 22 as it passes from the edge of body 18 to the hole 28. Whentooth 26 is in direct alignment with hole 28, spring 22 forces the toothinto the hole. Tooth 22 is provided with a fiat surface which isperpendicular to the surface of spring 22 which acts as a shoulder toengage the surface provided by hole 28. This structure holds bodies 16and 1S in lateral engagement until plunger 20 is depressed. Spring 22 isin turn depressed by plunger 20 and tooth 26 disengages from hole 28.Bodies 16 and 18 are then free to move in a lateral direction .away fromeach other thus breaking the fastening action between the two ends ofjewelry or similar article attached at respective rings 12 and 14. Theaction of plunger 20 is better shown in FIGURES 5 .and 6 wherein a crosssection of body 16 and a broken cross section of spring 22 are shown.Plunger 2t) has a head 30, threaded shank 32, and stop 34. Shank 32extends through a hole or slot 36 in body 16 and is threadably engagedwith spring 22. As shown in FIG- URE 6, plunger 20 and spring 22 aredepressed and if released will spring back to the top of body 16. InFIGURE 5, however, the plunger 20 has been turned until stop 34approaches the bottom of body 16. At that point, plunger 20 cannot bedepressed and a locking action results. The operation, therefore, is asfollows: Plunger 20 is retracted until there is suiiicient space betweenstop 34 and the side of body 16 to enable spring f, B 22 to be depresseda substantial distance; Spring 22 Vand tooth 26 are then free to slideinto body 18 to engage with hole 23. After engagement is effectedbetween tooth 26 and hole 28, plunger 26 can be screwed down until stop34 comes in contact with the inside bottom of body 16. In this positionof the respective parts plunger 2@ cannot be depressed to disengagetooth 26 from hole 28 and bodies T6 and 18 are locked together. Toseparate the bodies, plunger 20 is retracted until it has suiicientspace to depress spring 22 and disengage tooth 26.

Therefore, locking action is provided by simply twisting or rollingbetween the thumb and forenger head 30 until stop 34 engages body 16.Positive lockingl action is thus provided with a minimum of eiort anddiscom-k fort on the part of the operator.

As shown in the accompanying drawings,'bodies 16 and 18 have arectangular cross section, however, the bodies may be constructed in anyshape including square.

The jewelry snap Aof the present invention may be manufactured from anyof the alloys or metals employed for such articles and may beconstructed or assembled in any suitable fashion. Other variations andmodifications can be made within the spirit of the invention and scopeof the appended claims and the particular embodiment shown and describedherein is for purposes of exemplification and is not to be construed aslimiting to the scope i of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A jewelry snap comprising a pair of hollow bodies each having oneopen end; a U-shaped resilient member having respective arms andconnecting curved section, one arm thereof secured to one side of one ofsaid bodies at the open end; the other of said bodies being disposed forreceiving said resilient member; tooth means and tooth engaging means,one of which is on the other arm and the other being on said other bodyand coacting to engage with one another; said one body including avertical hole ladjacent the open end thereof, said arrn having aterminal end extending into the open end of said one body adjacent saidvertical hole, a plunger threadably secured to said terminal end andextending from one side thereof through said vertical hole and from theother side thereof into said one body and having a length substantiallyequal to the vertical dimension of the open end, whereby said verticalhole limits movement of said plunger along a vertical line and wherebysaid plunger performs when screwed in one direction with respect to theone arm to hold said one arm in tight relationship to said other bodyland to eiect engagement of said tooth means with said tooth engagingmeans.

2. A jewelry snap as in claim 1 wherein said tooth means includes ashoulder and said tooth engaging means includes a surface dened by ahole for engaging the shoulder.

3. A jewelry snap as in claim 1 wherein said tooth engaging meansincludes a plurality of holes each being in a respective side of saidother body whereby engagement with said tooth means can be effected at aplu- -rality of positions of said one body with respect to said otherbody.

4. A rjewelry snap as in claim 3 wherein said tooth means includes ashoulder disposed for engagement with a surfacedefined by a respectiveone of the holes in said other body.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 27,264Bissinger Feb. 28, 1860 247,709 Lowe Sept. 27, 1881 589,921 AshworthSept. 14, 1897 1,393,222 Jaroll Oct. 11, 1921 1,497,032 Siefken June l0,1924 1,563,270 Fife Nov. 24, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS 472,684 France Dec.l5, 1914 1,639 Great Britain June 26, 1861

1. A JEWELRY SNAP COMPRISING A PAIR OF HOLLOW BODIES EACH HAVING ONEOPEN END; A U-SHAPED RESILIENT MEMBER HAVING RESPECTIVE ARMS ANDCONNECTING CURVED SECTION, ONE ARM THEREOF SECURED TO ONE SIDE OF ONE OFSAID BODIES AT THE OPEN END; THE OTHER OF SAID BODIES BEING DISPOSED FORRECEIVING SAID RESILIENT MEMBER; TOOTH MEANS AND TOOTH ENGAGING MEANS,ONE OF WHICH IS ON THE OTHER ARM AND THE OTHER BEING ON SAID OTHER BODYAND COACTING TO ENGAGE WITH ONE ANOTHER; SAID ONE BODY INCLUDING AVERTICAL HOLE ADJACENT THE OPEN END THEREOF, SAID ARM HAVING A TERMINALEND EXTENDING INTO THE OPEN END OF SAID ONE BODY ADJACENT SAID VERTICALHOLE, A PLUNGER THREADEDLY SECURED TO SAID TERMINAL END AND EXTENDINGFROM ONE SIDE THEREOF THROUGH SAID VERTICAL HOLE AND FROM THE OTHER SIDETHEREOF INTO SAID ONE BODY AND HAVING A LENGTH SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TOTHE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE OPEN END, WHEREBY SAID VERTICAL HOLELIMITS MOVEMENT OF SAID PLUNGER ALONG A VERTICAL LINE AND WHEREBY SAIDPLUNGER PERFORMS WHEN SCREWED IN ONE DIRECTION WITH RESPECT TO THE ONEARM TO HOLD SAID ONE ARM IN TIGHT RELATIONSHIP TO SAID OTHER BODY AND TOEFFECT ENGAGEMENT OF SAID TOOTH MEANS WITH SAID TOOTH ENGAGING MEANS.